Posted: April 29, 2006

Athletics: European Athletics Championships - 100 Days To Go

From David Monti

© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

Yesterday marked 100 days to go before the opening ceremony of the European Athletics Championships, besides the Commonwealth Games, the biggest competition on the track in 2006.

Competition at Ullevi Stadium will begin on Monday, August 7, and will conclude on Sunday, August 13. Preliminary entries for the event are now closed and nearly 1400 athletes from a record 48 countries are registered to compete. Athletes have until July 28 to meet the qualifying standards.

"The European Athletics Championships is very important for our movement," said European Athletics Association President Hansjörg Wirz, at a press conference in Gothenburg yesterday. "It is the shop window for athletics in Europe and when our sport reaches its largest audience."

The event's opening ceremony will take place at the Götaplatsen in the city's center, on Sunday, August 6, the first time that the opening will he held outside the main venue. Briton Jonathan Edwards, the world record holder in the triple jump, will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Throughout the week the Championship City Festival will feature numerous cultural activites in ten venues throughout the city.

"In this way the whole of the city’s population will be integrated into and touched by the event and there will be an enjoyable atmosphere not only in the stadium, but in the whole city," said Wirz, who is also heads Zurich's annual Weltklasse meeting, one of the world's premiere one-day competitions.

According to local organizers, more than half of the available tickets have already been sold, while a survey conducted in April showed that 80% of the city's population is now aware that the championships will take place in the city. According to the EAA, the figure represents a significant increase from when the last awareness survey was carried out last September.

The women's 10,000 meters will be one of two finals contested on the first day, while the men's marathon will begin the competition on the final day.

[NOTE: RRW will provide daily coverage from Gothenburg.]

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